


You & Me

by Beatles_and_Bellarke



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-25 02:56:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21349108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beatles_and_Bellarke/pseuds/Beatles_and_Bellarke
Summary: Will Byers doesn't hate El, he just wishes he was in her position and it makes relating to her both extremely easy and very difficult.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	You & Me

Wherever Will was, Mike was there also. Just how Will liked it. The two of them against the world. In late elementary school, Dustin and Lucas joined them and the two became a group of four but Will wasn’t drawn to the others like he’d been to Mike. When Jane Hopper or El, entered the group, Will felt more threatened than he ever had. She moved to Hawkins with her father, the new town sheriff.

El and Mike hit it off almost immediately. Girls were not on Will’s radar and it felt strange allowing this newcomer so close to his friends this early in her time living in Hawkins.

Everything El did, Will couldn’t stand. He tried to be nice. He knew if he just gave this girl a chance they’d get along. Besides, his mother seemed to like her father so Will didn’t want to let his underlying feelings get in the way.

But every night all he saw was Mike holding her hand or kissing her cheek, which woke him up with a pang. 

One particular night, the boys were planning a D & D campaign to celebrate their last night as middle schoolers, before they started dreaded high school the following morning. They had all agreed on a time and Will was excited.

They were finally going to play a full game of D & D at his house just like the old days.

Will had made it clear that El and Lucas’s girlfriend, Max were _not_ invited. This was to be a no girls allowed campaign. The other boys agreed, albeit grudgingly.

The doorbell rang. There standing at the door was none other than El herself. Will couldn’t believe it. Mike had gone against the agreement. But Will couldn't turn her away. So instead, he stood in the doorway glaring at her.

“Can I come in?” She asked, tentative, a smile playing on her lips. She knew what he thought of her. A smart one, he’d give her that. But he still didn’t want her at his house.

“I guess, yeah.” Will stepped to the side. El walked in. At that moment, Joyce Byers was coming down the stairs to bring the boys D & D snacks.

“Oh! El! How are you, honey?”

“I’m well, thank you!” El grinned at Joyce, eliciting a death glare from Will. “Is Mike here yet?”

“No, sweetie. You’re the first one! Will, I didn’t know the girls were invited!”

“Neither did I.” Will decided the floor was far more interesting than the unwelcome visitor in his home. His mother saw this shift in body language and nodded knowingly. She turned to El.

“El, could you come help me real quick? Will still has things to set up.” El wasn’t particularly comfortable around Will so she agreed. The two went upstairs, leaving Will to set up his game in peace.

6:00 rolled around slower than Will ever experienced it. Dustin was at the door first. He brought over his own dice and a few choice snacks he knew Joyce wouldn’t have in the house. Next came Lucas and Max.

Again, Will wasn’t game on having the girlfriends over and had said as much, but at least Max was cool and liked a lot of the same things the guys did. He found he could talk to her a lot better than he could El.

Mike was last. As soon as he arrived, Will took him to the side. Mike was bewildered but followed as any best friend would when the host death glares them into the home.

“Will, what the hell?” Mike didn’t mean to be harsh but he felt unjustly picked on.

“Why did you invite El?” An accusatory jab of the finger sent Mike into defense mode. “This was just supposed to be the four of us. You told me neither of them were coming.”

“Why does it matter? Lucas brought Max.” The noise Will made was a mix of a snort and a scoff.

“Max is basically a boy. She likes the same things as us and actually wants to join us in our games.”

“El would _love_ to join us if you’d just let her. You scare her, Will. And this is why.”

Will stopped short. “Wait, what?”

“She has expressed to me several times that she wants to be part of our games and other things. But every time she goes to try to play with us, you act like she’s the scum of the earth.”

“She’s a girl.” Will stated as if that answered every question Mike could possibly have.

“So is Max.” Mike pointed out. “What’s really going on?”

“Nothing.” Will changed the subject so abruptly Mike was pretty sure a lot more was going on. “She can play if she wants. Just explain the rules to her.” Mike’s ear-splitting grin forced a beat to skip in Will’s heart. As quickly as this feeling came, it left.

“Thanks, Will! You’re the best.” Mike gave him a hug and every fiber of Will’s being burned with a strange fire. The entire group played that night. It was fun but Will still felt this strange sadness in his chest.

After the others left, it was just Will and his mom. Joyce knew Will was upset but she couldn’t tell why.

“So did you have fun?” She tried. Will nodded, not looking at her. “Y’know high school is such a huge step in your life. I’m so proud of you, honey.” She gave his shoulder a squeeze. This tiny act of affection brought Will to his breaking point.

“It hurts so much, Mom.” Was all he could get out between sobs. Startled by this new display of emotions, Joyce went over to him. She brought him into her arms.

“What hurts, sweetheart?”

“Seeing her with _him_.” At first Joyce had to cycle through Will’s friends to realize what he was talking about. But as soon as she realized, she hugged him tighter.

“Oh honey. I know it does. I saw how you acted around El. I’m sorry.” She knew better than to tell him to try to be friendlier to El, especially when he was this upset. “You’ll be okay. Broken hearts are just part of growing up.” They sat together for a good part of an hour before Joyce kissed the top of Will’s head and shifted him off her lap.

“Come on, we’ve gotta head to bed. First day tomorrow!” Will grinned at his mom. He knew he could trust her with anything on his mind. She had the answer for it all. They cleaned up the last of the dishes, hugged each other goodnight and went to bed.


End file.
